José Perrella de Oliveira Costa (February 22, 1956), better known as Zezé Perrella, is a Brazilian politician, businessman and former president of the Brazilian football (soccer) team

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube Cruzeiro Esporte Clube (), known simply as Cruzeiro, is a Brazilian sports club based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its association football team. It play ...

Career

Beginning

Perrella was the president of the Industrial Meat and Dairy and Cold Cuts Syndicate of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

(''Sindicato das Indústrias de Carne e Derivados e de Frios de Minas Gerais (Sinduscarne)'') between 1992 and 1997. He was also director of the Federation of Industries of Minas Gerais (''Federação das Indústrias do Estado de Minas Gerais (Fiemg)'') between 1998 and 2001.

Cruzeiro

Perrella first became president of Cruzeiro in 1995, and would stay there until 2002, when his brother Alvimar de Oliveira Costa took over. In 2008 Perrella was once again elected to a four-year term. At the end of 2011, his mandate expired and he left the presidency of the club.

Politics

Perrella was a federal deputy for PFL between 1999 and 2003. In 2002, he ran for the Senate, but finished fourth. In 2006, he was elected state deputy. In 2010, he was a supplement to

Itamar Franco Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco (; 28 June 19302 July 2011) was a Brazilian politician who served as the 33rd president of Brazil from 29 December 1992 to 31 December 1994. Previously, he was the 21st vice president of Brazil from 1990 until the ...

, whom was elected senator. Following Francos' death on July 2, 2011, he was officially appointed senator.

Scandals

In November 2013, 450 kg of cocaine was seized from a Perrella's helicopter in the State of

Espírito Santo Espírito Santo (, , ; ) is a state in southeastern Brazil. Its capital is Vitória, and its largest city is Serra. With an extensive coastline, the state hosts some of the country's main ports, and its beaches are significant tourist attra ...

. Mr. Perrella was again involved in crime in 2017, when

Joesley Batista Joesley Mendonça Batista (born 8 December 1972) is a Brazilian businessman, son of José Batista Sobrinho. He is responsible for the expansion and internationalization process of JBS S.A., the largest meat-packing company in the world, and one ...

said to have recorded senator Aecio Neves requesting two million reais in bribes. According to Globo, the Brazilian federal police filmed the payment to Aécio's cousin, and tracked the delivery of the suitcase containing the money until an employee of Perrella. Later the money was then tracked to a bank account of his company.Brazil: explosive recordings implicate President Michel Temer in bribery
by Jonathan Watts,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

(2017)

References

External links

Cruzeiro EC Official Site
Living people 1957 births Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Minas Gerais People from Minas Gerais Brazilian football chairmen and investors Cruzeiro Esporte Clube directors and chairmen Democrats (Brazil) politicians Members of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais Brazilian people of Italian descent {{Brazil-politician-stub